Better Chance
by MidnightAbyss
Summary: Takes place after the 6th book. Harry recieves a strange letter from someone long thought dead. It leads to meeting strange people and a few new tricks up the trio's sleeves. Not your normal HPYYH xover!
1. Huh?

**Better Chance**

**Note: This takes place in Harry's seventh year. It is also after Yusuke comes back from the Makai. So there will be SPOILERS. Also, in my fic, Dumbledore is not dead. He is very well alive. Well, not entirely. You'll see.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I know it hasn't come up yet, but I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho either.**

**Chapter 1: Huh?**

Harry lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. He'd been doing that for 2 hours already, he didn't know how much longer he could just keep staring at the ceiling. Just then, he heard a tapping on his window.

His mind repeated, _Thank god,_ over and over again. He opened his window to allow a large, tawny, Hogwarts owl into his room. The owl quickly dropped a letter on his desk and flew back out the window.

Harry ran over to his desk and picked up the letter. He tore it open and roughly pulled the letter out of its envelope. It said:

_Dear Harry,_

_I have been evaluating the situation with Voldemort and will be picking you up at midnight on July 31. Consider some of this as a birthday present. Please have your things packed and ready to go._

_Dumbledore_

Harry stared at the letter. It was Dumbledore's handwriting. It had his signature. The only problem was that this couldn't be him. He was dead. Harry had seen it with his own eyes just a few months ago.

He decided that he would send a letter to Ron and Hermione. But before he could, two owls swooped into his room. One sat on his bed, while the other flew in circles around the room, chirping madly.

"Pig! Get down here! And be quiet before someone hears you!" Harry whispered fiercely. Needless to say, Pig shut up and landed on the bed. Harry listened for the sounds of his uncle, aunt, or Dudley coming upstairs before grabbing the letters and ripping them open. The tawny owl was from Hermione. Her letter said:

_Harry,_

_I just received a letter from Dumbledore! I thought he was dead. Ron says that he got a letter too. It said something about him picking us up at midnight on July 31. I've been reading The Daily Prophet and apparently the Ministry is in an uproar. The Prophet says that Dumbledore came back with help from some people who brought him back to life. I'm not sure if this can be trusted though. It could be someone disguised as Dumbledore. In that case, they could be working for Voldemort. I think that we should test this so-called 'Dumbledore' to see if it really is him. But we must be on guard at all times._

_Hermione_

The next letter was from Ron. This one said:

_Harry,_

_By now you should have gotten Hermione's letter. I have to agree with her. It could be a disguise. We need to think up a question to ask him. But its gotta be something that no one else knows. Well, mum thinks that we should all meet up at my house. That way, mum and dad can question him too and so that we can make sure we're safe. Mum thinks that him picking us up individually could be dangerous. Like he sent me and Hermione letters to slip you into a false sense of security and he picks you up first. If he is an imposter, then he could trick you and kidnap you. Or at least, that's what mum says. I dunno. Anyways, send me an owl telling me what you think._

_Ron_

Now that Harry thought about it, it was a bit suspicious. He thought that this was a good idea. He wrote back to Ron and Hermione saying that they should meet at the Burrow. He also said to keep whatever question they would ask to themselves, you never know who could be spying on you.

He found comfort in the fact that he would be going to the burrow, but the thought of Dumbledore possibly being alive just confused him. He fell in to an uncomfortable and worrying sleep that night.

**MidnightAbyss: Now Review! I demand reviews. I must get one review before I put up the next chapter. So there. Reviews make me feel better. I know it's short, but the next chapter will be longer. I promise. Now review!**


	2. Is He Real?

**Thank you to Makurayami Ookami. The only person who seems to value the worthiness of my story enough to review. COME ON! 67 PEOPLE HAVE READ THIS! WHY DOES NO ONE REVIEW? THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Harry Potter. Believe me. If I owned them, I would be rich, YYH wouldn't have ended, and I would be mocking you all. But sadly, none of those things are true. I can still mock you, though. **

Chapter 2: Is He Real?

It was July 31. Harry's birthday. No one said 'happy birthday', but then again, no one ever did. Then he remembered the letter, so he packed his things to go to the Weasley's home. He had received a letter a week ago telling him that Mr. Weasley would be there to pick him up today.

He had explained this to his aunt and uncle, who were quick to allow him to go. Both because they didn't want to get attacked by a wizard and because they were only too happy to get rid of Harry. It was 2:47. Only 13 more minutes until Mr. Weasley came to pick him up. Harry, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone who asked, was counting down every second until 3:00.

_10, 9, 8…_ he grabbed his stuff and readied himself in the living room, since the Dursleys had decided to stay upstairs _…4, 3, 2, 1. Finally, _Harry thought. _Now, where is he?_

Harry needn't have asked that question since the moment he thought that, Mr. Weasley popped into the front room. "How are you, Harry?" he asked softly. "Fine. So, how are we getting there?" Harry replied. The red-haired man pulled out an old, broken piece of a fishing pole. "Portkey, of course. Seeing as you haven't qualified for apparation yet," he answered cheerily.

Harry and Mr. Weasley touched the portkey and were instantly transported to the burrow. It seemed oddly quiet. But maybe that was because of the aurors guarding the house. Harry smiled as he saw the tilted tower of the burrow. This was like his second home, Hogwarts being the first. He had missed the Weasley family; Ron, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, everyone really.

They made their way through the garden and to the house. Mr. Weasley said his little password, and he and Harry walked into the house.

They were immediately greeted with shouts of 'Happy Birthday!' Harry smiled. He saw that Lupin and Tonks were there, as well as some of the other aurors. All the Weasleys were there, too. Harry knew it wasn't just to tell him happy birthday though. They were also there to see 'Dumbledore'. He didn't care. He was just happy to see them.

Hermione and Ron immediately came over to him and engulfed him in a hug. They talked for a few moments about how their summers had been so far, and so on.

After a few more greetings and some short conversations, there was a knock on the door. Everyone fell silent, the only noise being Mrs. Weasley scurrying to the door to see who was there.

Mrs. Weasley checked out of the eyehole to see who it was. 'Dumbledore' was the one who had knocked. He was wearing his normal velvety purple robes with his half-moon spectacles and odd boots.

She cracked the door open a bit in order to hand him a small bottle filled with clear liquid. "Drink that and state your name and business," she ordered. 'Dumbledore' smiled, his blue eyes twinkling all the while. He drank two drops of the clear liquid. His eyes slid out of focus and he stated in a flat tone, "Albus Dumbledore. I am here to pick up Harry, Ron, and Hermione."

The effect wore off in a few moments and Mrs. Weasley opened the door for him to enter. Her eyes were wide with shock. Dumbledore strode into the room and smiled at them all. He was pleased to see everyone from the Order here at this little gathering. "Dumbledore, would you please sit down. We have a few questions for you," Kingsley said from the corner he was in.

Dumbledore nodded and promptly sat down, prepared to answer their questions. "Of course. After all, you must make sure it is truly me," he said cheerily with a crooked smile. Tonks came forward with another bottle of the clear liquid also known as veritaserum. She gave Dumbledore precisely 3 drops and then backed away towards the rest of the group.

Dumbledore's eyes became unfocused and glassy once more, telling them that the potion had worked. Ron stepped forward to ask his question. They figured they would start off with an easy question. "Why did you award points to Neville at the end of our first year?" Ron asked. "Because he stood up against his own friends for what he thought was right. He showed an unnatural bravery," Dumbledore answered flatly. Ron nodded to the rest, signaling that it was the correct answer and the next question should be asked. He then backed away to the rest of the group as Tonks had.

Hermione then stepped forward. "Where did you send Hagrid after the Triwizard Tournament and what did you hope to accomplish by this?" "I sent Hagrid into the mountains where the giants lived. I hoped that they would side with us instead of Voldemort." Most of the people in the room shuddered at the name. Hermione nodded as Ron had and backed away.

Harry began to get anxious as the questions were asked and each one was answered correctly. He wondered if it was possible that this really was the real Dumbledore, as he patiently waited for his turn. He was told to ask as many questions as he needed after everyone else was finished. Harry was one of the few people that actually knew him fairly well; therefore, he had the more personal questions to ask.

Finally, Harry's turn came. He calmly walked up to where Dumbledore was seated and prepared to ask his question. He knew exactly what to ask.

He took a deep breath and asked, "What is it that you have always wanted for Christmas?" Everyone glanced at each other nervously, not knowing the answer and thinking it was a little strange to ask something like that. "Woolen socks," Dumbledore answered. They couldn't help but smile at the funny answer; they would have laughed as well, had it not been such a serious occasion.

Harry nodded and asked his next question. The entire room tensed as Harry calmly asked, "What were you showing me last year every time we met in your office?" Most people in the room leaned forward expectantly. They had been wondering about this for a long time. "I was showing you certain memories from myself, Bob Ogden, Caractacus Burke, Morfin, Horace Slughorn, and Hokey the house elf."

While the rest of the people in the room were confused, Harry was very close to being absolutely positive that this was in fact the real Dumbledore. How? He didn't know, but there was no way that Voldemort, or anyone else for that matter, could have known what they were doing. He nodded to the others, preparing to ask his final question.

"Who was the other person who could have been the one who survived the killing curse from Voldemort?" Again, everyone shuddered or flinched at the name. "Neville Longbottom," Dumbledore answered simply. Everyone stared, wide-eyed at this. "Neville Longbottom?" some of them whispered. It seemed amazing that he could've actually been the one to be their savior.

The noise died down after Harry nodded. He smiled slightly. "This is definitely the real Dumbledore," he said.

Dumbledore was brought out of his stupor as soon as Harry said that. Everyone crowded around the once-dead headmaster, asking so many questions at once that it would've made anyone's head spin.

"Calm down everyone, calm down," Dumbledore said. Once everyone had quieted down Dumbledore began to speak. "I assume that I passed all of your questions?" he asked. Everyone nodded dumbly, still amazed that he was really there. "And am I right in assuming that you wish to know how I am back?" Everyone nodded again. "Very well. I will tell you."

**MA: Mwahaha. I'm being evil by putting in a cliff hanger. But I have the right to do so. Not just because I'm the authoress, but because it makes people review and that's something I need. Otherwise, I have no reason to continue and my mom claims that I'm wasting my time. I'm doing this for the fun, but if no one reviews, then who's to convince my mother!**

**Yusuke: Ha! I laugh at you!**

**MA: Shut up or I'll tell Keiko that you skipped out on your last date because you didn't want to miss a TV show.**

**Yusuke: O.O Shutting up now.**

**MA: Good. Now find me Kuwabara or I'll tie you up again and use you to get reviews.**

**Yusuke: O.O' (sweet tone) Oh Kuwabaaaaraaaa! Where aaaare youuuuu? I have some of Yukina's fresh-baked cookies! (walking off to find Kuwabara while luring him with cookies) **


	3. The Story

**I would like to thank loneicedragon, Makurayami Ookami, Spellcaster Hikaru, Mikutalla, Rakuen Seeker, and stuck-in-a-tree. THANK YOU ALL! For those 222 people that read this story, YOU NEED TO REVIEW! I'm working really hard on this. I want my work to be noticed by my review count. Also, I apologize for not updating sooner, but I've been very busy. I got attacked by what I think was a brown recluse yesterday and I've been kinda hiding ever since. In case you don't know what that is, it is a huge, brown, incredibly venomous spider. Its poison rots your flesh away. Luckily, I didn't get bitten by it.**

**Ron: Ugh. I hate spiders. (shiver)**

**MA: I know. Ugh. (shudder) And to think I nearly got bitten. (more shuddering)**

**Ron: Sick. (slightly pale)**

**MA: THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN SEVERELY EDITED.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or Harry Potter. Haven't I said this enough already that you would get it! HUH!**

**Chapter 3: The Story**

Everyone grabbed some chairs to sit in while they listened to Dumbledore's story. They were very eager to hear what he had to say. The listened intently to the old headmaster began his tale.

"Let us start after Severus had hit me with the killing curse…"

(Before. In the Astronomy Tower.)

Dumbledore stood there in the tower hovering over his own body. His old, battered, dead body lay crumpled at the foot of the Astronomy Tower. Severus…He had trusted the man who had just turned and killed him. He should have listened to Harry on that one.

He could hear the yells and screams inside the castle. Oh, how he wished he could help those frightened children inside the school, who must have awoken by now from the yells, screams, and bangs of the fighting. And Harry, poor Harry had just witnessed his death.

He directed his attention at the battle unfolding on the grounds. Hagrid was blocking the gate, trying to prevent the Death Eaters from escaping. He looked to his right to see Snape and Malfoy running out onto the grounds towards the gate, with Harry hot on their tails. But then two Death Eaters came up behind him, one shot a spell that sent Harry face-first into the ground. And when he finally looked back up, his face was smeared with blood. He shot a spell towards one of them, got up, then turned and continued his chase after Snape.

He watched as Harry shot a curse towards Snape, who pushed Malfoy ahead with a yell and turned to face the scrawny, black-haired boy. Harry continued to shoot spells at Snape, who was lazily blocking them or stopping Harry from completing the incantation. He seemed to be mocking the boy before him, another Death Eater came running up behind Harry and shot him with the Cruciatus Curse.

Horrified, the headmaster took a step forward, as though he wanted to go help the boy who was keeled over on the ground screaming. But Snape ordered the Death Eater to stop and keep running. Harry stumbled towards Snape, shouting another curse, but Snape repelled it as he had done the others. He moved towards Harry, who was looked as though he were about to send another curse at him. Snape yelled something and Harry was sent soaring backwards once more.

Dumbledore saw out of the corner of his eye flames encasing Hagrid's house. Fang's howls and Hagrid's yelling drowning out all other noises. He wished he could help them, but how was he to help if he was dead?

His gaze switched back to Harry and Snape as he heard Snape roar furiously, "DON'T CALL ME A COWARD!" The greasy-haired man swung his wand in a slashing motion, sending Harry flying back and slamming into the ground once more.

Buckbeak flew over Harry towards Snape, slashing his large, razor-sharp talons at the man with all his might. Snape staggered backwards from the attack before turning around and running as fast as he could towards the gates, with the hippogriff flapping and screeching behind him.

Dumbledore saw Harry finally sit up holding his head. Harry looked towards where Snape was running and began frantically fumbling around for his wand, but by the time he had found it, Snape had already Disapparated, leaving Buckbeak circling around the gates from up in the air.

Harry started looking around dazedly, shouting for Hagrid. Dumbledore turned his head to see the half-giant coming out of the flames of his house, carrying his large boarhound, Fang, on his back. Harry had seen Hagrid and sank to his knees from relief and exhaustion.

Hagrid ran over to Harry and picked him up by the arms, setting him upright. Hagrid raised his pink umbrella, said something,—most likely 'Aguamenti' judging from the results—and a jet of water spurted from the tip. Harry joined him and together they extinguished all the flames, though the house was still smoking and burnt.

The two seemed to be having a short discussion, then Hagrid shook his and said something, and they both headed towards the castle. People in dressing gowns had started uncertainly stepping out of the castle, and already people had started walking over to where Dumbledore stood over his own body.

Harry had been staring over in his direction as well, and Hagrid noticed the people huddling at the foot of the Astronomy Tower. Hagrid directed Harry towards where the headmaster was standing, looking curiously around him. Dumbledore didn't understand why no one could see him. Everyone around him was looking down at his feet where he body was. They all looked horrified, distressed, and sad. Many of them were even crying.

He looked curiously down as well, vaguely wondering why there were two of him. Then he realized he must have become a ghost. But then, if he had become a ghost, wouldn't everyone be able to see him?

He looked up to see Hagrid had pushed his way through the crowd with Harry. Hagrid let out a moan of pain and shock as he reached the front of the crowd, while Harry slowly continued forward to crouch down beside the headmaster's body.

Dumbledore stood in front of Harry on the other side of his body. He watched as Harry reached forward to straighten his spectacles and wipe the blood from his mouth. Dumbledore felt a tear come to his eye at the gentle way Harry regarded his body.

Then Harry looked down and picked up the locket that they acquired. It had opened from the fall. Dumbledore leaned down to look at it as Harry examined it. It was small and plain, with a piece of paper jammed tightly into where a photo would be placed, and Dumbledore realized that this was not a Horcrux.

Dumbledore moved behind Harry to see the message written on the parchment that Harry had taken out and unfolded:

_**To the Dark Lord**_

_**I know I will be dead long before you read this**_

_**But I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.**_

_**I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.**_

_**I face death in the hope that when you meet your match,**_

_**You will be mortal once more.**_

_**R.A.B.**_

Dumbledore looked down at the boy beside him. Tears had begun to stream down Harry's face and Fang had begun to howl behind them. Hagrid came forward to try to convince Harry to come, but Harry refused.

"It's very sad, isn't it? It almost breaks your heart," a female voice said softly from behind him. Dumbledore nodded and turned around to see who had spoken, even though he knew that the person could not possibly have been speaking to him.

What he saw was a girl with bright, sky-blue hair and purple-pink eyes. She was wearing a pink dress, which looked more like a cross between a robe and a dress, and from what he knew of Japanese culture, he believed it was called a kimono. She was holding an oar that was about as long as she was tall. He vaguely wondered why no one had noticed this strange-looking girl.

"Very pleased to meet you, Dumbledore-san, though I wish we could have met under better circumstances. My name is Botan," she said softly, holding out her hand towards him. He reached forward and shook her hand, wondering how she was capable of seeing him and touching him when nobody else could.

"I'm the chief pilot of the River Styx, or as they call me, the Grim Reaper. Koenma-sama has asked me to bring you to Reikai to see him for the fact that you weren't supposed to die yet." She sat sideways on her oar and floated just above the ground. Botan patted a spot on the oar next to her, motioning for him to sit down.

As soon as he had sat beside her, she floated up towards the sky, slowly leaving the scene on the ground behind. As they left, Dumbledore found the need to ask her a few questions. "Reikai? Koenma-sama?"

Botan giggled. "Sorry, I'm used to speaking in Japanese. Reikai means Spirit World, basically what your culture calls Heaven, Hell, or the Underworld. Koenma-sama means Lord Koenma. He's the prince of the Spirit World and the son of King Enma."

"And what do you mean, 'I wasn't supposed to die yet'?" Dumbledore pressed, believing that death was something that could not be held on a timeline.

"Just what it says. You weren't supposed to die. With Voldemort causing havoc around the world, people have been dying unexpectedly, and Spirit World is running out of places to put them all. Koenma will explain everything when we get there."

As she said this, a large, swirling, blue portal opened up before them. The portal took them far above a desert-like land with a large and extremely long river. Up ahead there were cliffs on either side of the river. "See that?" Botan asked pointing to the river below them, "That's the River Styx."

As they were entering between the cliffs, Botan pointed up ahead, "Up ahead you'll see the Gate of Judgment just as we're coming out of the cliffs." And surely enough, as they exited the cliffs, Dumbledore was able to see an enormous Japanese palace with a series of doors inside doors at the front, as though the door could be opened by differently-sized people. He was a bit frightened to think of who would be big enough to use the largest of the sizes.

They had gotten to a platform that appeared to be floating in midair and landed there. Then Dumbledore walked behind Botan along a narrow, curvy path that connected the platform they had landed on to the gates of the palace.

Dumbledore looked over the edge of the path to see very strange creatures working along the sides of the river or out in the tan, grassy plains that expanded about 2 or 3 miles around the perimeter of the palace. The creatures looked almost human, but they were very well-built and were various colors, ranging from orange to green. They were all wearing loincloths or something that looked a bit like a toga and they appeared to have at least one horn on their head, sometimes two, and large protruding fangs.

While Dumbledore had been distracted with the creatures, he did not notice that they had reached the gates. Botan had walked over to a device on the wall and said something strange that Dumbledore didn't understand as she held down a button. The doors opened before them and they walked into a giant hallway that vaguely reminded him of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, only darker and looking more like a giant throat.

Finally, they came upon a set of smaller doors. When she pushed the doors open, Dumbledore saw more of the strange creatures from before. They were rushing around frantically, screaming names and yelling about needing someone's files. They looked quite comical as they reached passed each other and bumped into one another. Every once in a while, beginning to cry when they dropped a stack of papers.

Botan was careful to avoid bumping into the creatures as she walked across the room, and Dumbledore decided to follow her example. Luckily, they had managed to get to the other side of the room without walking into the frantic creatures, and they had come upon another set of doors.

Botan knocked upon the doors 4 times before they opened of their own accord and she bounced happily into the room. "I brought Dumbledore-san, Koenma-sama!" the blue-haired girl exclaimed cheerily, as Dumbledore stepped in and the doors shut behind him.

The room looked like an office. There were a few plants around the room and there was a desk directly in front of them. Behind the desk was a large blue cushioned office chair that had its back facing them.

The chair turned around after a moment, revealing a tall teenage boy with brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing very formal Japanese clothing and he had 'Jr.' printed on his forehead, slightly covered by his bangs. The oddest part about this boy, though, was the pale blue pacifier in his mouth.

The boy, whom he guessed was Koenma, handed Botan a large manila folder and told her to give it to someone. She grabbed the folder and took off out of the room quickly. Suddenly, the boy yelled, "Jorge! Bring a chair in here for our guest! Now!" Almost immediately afterwards, one of the creatures from before—this time blue with one horn, a leopard print loincloth, and long, straight yellow hair (though he appeared to be balding)—ran in with a chair held over his head.

He set it down a little overenthusiastically and one of the legs broke. "OGRE! YOU BAKA! YOU BROKE THE CHAIR! THAT'S COMING OUT OF YOUR PAYCHECK! NOW GO GET ANOTHER ONE!" Koenma hollered furiously. As he calmed down, the ogre, as the creature had now been titled, ran out of the room faster than he had run in.

"I'm sorry, Dumbledore. This past week has been so hectic; I've had so much paperwork to do it's not even funny," Koenma sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I see. Well, I don't want to cause too much trouble. I'll simply provide my own chair," Dumbledore replied as he took out his wand which, surprisingly, he still had. Koenma looked at him curiously, wondering how he could possibly do that. Dumbledore gave a swift flick of his wand and a large comfortable armchair stood before him. Koenma was astounded.

"I almost forgot that you could do magic. It's quite impressive when you actually see it," he murmured softly. He sat a little straighter in his chair. "Well, let's get to business."

"I suppose you want to know why you are here," Koenma asked. Dumbledore nodded.

"Well, as Botan has told you, you were not supposed to die yet. Because of that, we do not have a place for you yet. This is mainly because of Voldemort, who was supposed to have died 16 years ago. Because the ferrygirl who was sent after Voldemort only ended up finding a piece of his soul and because Voldemort escaped from her, he has managed to throw us for loop. We've had many unexpected deaths because of him and have been running out of space to place all the souls."

"After viewing your record and viewing the happenings of your world, the Wizarding World, I have decided to give you 2 options."

Dumbledore listened intently to his choices in order to carefully weigh them. "1. We can continue on with the judgment process and send you to your place in the Spirit World, or 2. We can bring you back to life and give you an offer. I will not tell you of this offer unless you choose this. Think this through carefully."

Dumbledore thought carefully for a moment, weighing his options. "Well, if I am not supposed to die yet, then I choose to come back to life. I will be of more help if I am alive than dead." "Great! To be completely honest, I was hoping you would pick that one. Now back to business. The offer I am to give you will give Harry Potter an even greater chance at winning against Voldemort and not dieing in the process. My father has given me permission to allow Harry to be taught under my ex-spirit detectives, considering the magnitude of this war. Harry will learn some new things that will greatly aid his cause, not to mention the fact that he will be completely safe from Voldemort at where he will be staying."

"But how is that possible? No place is safe from Voldemort," remarked Dumbledore. "Simple. Harry will be staying with my ex-spirit detective, that really shouldn't have been fired, and some friends of his. Only someone with serious mental problems would try to attack them, and if Harry is around them, then he will be fine," Koenma stated calmly.

"But how can someone be as powerful as to make Voldemort fear them?"

"Have you heard of him attacking anywhere in Japan?"

"No."

"Exactly. He has attacked everywhere but Japan. He fears the wrath of my ex-detectives. Even though they don't work for me anymore, doesn't mean they won't fight. They may not be permitted to help the rest of the world now, but they can still protect Japan."

"Very well," Dumbledore sighed in defeat, "But may I request that Harry's friends come along as well?"

"Well, of course!" Koenma said happily. "It's easier if Harry has some help. I found that out with my ex-spirit detectives," Koenma said thoughtfully, then he began to fall into other matters, "In fact, I should convince my dad to let me rehire them. But they'll probably want to be paid. But I can work with that. They can't make a living without being paid and if I pay them, then they'll be full time. This would make it easier." He continued to mutter to himself for a while, so Dumbledore just thought about everything that just happened while he waited.

(Present Time)

"So now, -Harry, Ron, Hermione- You will be training under a woman named Genkai for the rest of the summer."

"But professor, I didn't want to go back to Hogwarts this year," Harry interjected. "Really?" Dumbledore asked thoughtfully. His friends turned to him with startled looks on their faces.

"Yeah, I was kinda hoping to look for the horcruxes," Harry mumbled. Most of the people in the room didn't hear the last bit, but Dumbledore managed to catch it.

"I see. Well then, I suppose that you could train at Genkai's temple longer than you were originally supposed to. I shall inform Koenma of your decision. In fact, I believe you will be able to learn more and become stronger with this extended period of time."

Harry jerked his head up in surprise to look at those twinkling blue eyes. He had been expecting the headmaster to insist upon him returning to school. He could have sworn that he was dreaming, but he knew better than that. So instead his thoughts wandered to this Genkai person.

"So Harry is going to go to Japan to train with a woman named Genkai, whose temple is supposedly impenetrable by Voldemort?" Lupin asked, completely astounded by the absurdity of this.

"Why would You-Know-Who be afraid of some woman in Japan?" Mad-Eye asked angrily, "If this woman is so powerful then why has she not come to help us?"

"She has her own reasons Moody. It is not our business to meddle in her affairs," Dumbledore replied wisely.

"Shouldn't some of the Order escort these three? Wouldn't it be safer?" Shacklebolt asked cautiously.

"I suppose so. Then you will be able to meet Genkai and the ex-spirit detectives yourself."

"Who exactly are these ex-spirit detectives, anyway?" Ron asked.

"From what I heard from Koenma's ramblings, their leader is named Yusuke. I believe their job is to protect the world from evil beings," Dumbledore stated.

"What? Then why did they not come to help us?" Moody asked fiercely.

"From what I have heard, they are about Harry's age, and were fired 2 years ago. Therefore, they would not have known of our problem with Voldemort."

"How can someone so young be trusted to protect the world!" Hermione yelled.

"Ah. I believe you are forgetting our dear young Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Oh. But he was prophesized. Do they even have a reason for saving the world?" Hermione retaliated.

"I'm not sure what their reason is. But you may ask them when we arrive there."

Harry quickly became tired of listening to people argue back and forth about his safety and if they could trust these people or not. The way he saw it, if they brought Dumbledore back to life, then he could trust them. He was tired any ways. All he wanted to do was go to sleep. So he broke the arguing with his own question. "When do we leave?" he asked quietly.

There was a shocked silence as everyone ran over the same questions in their minds, _How can he be so trusting and willing?_ and _Is he mental?_ Finally, Dumbledore began to chuckle.

"I have been told that we shall leave in two days time. In the mean time, I believe I am correct in assuming that you need to pack your things to prepare for your trip. We shall be going by portkey and landing in a clearing in a small forest near a muggle town called Mushiori City."

**MA: All right! Cliffy for you all! Especially the ones that read and don't review. **

**Harry: You really don't like them, do you?**

**MA: Nope.**

**Hermione: I think it's a brilliant idea to leave cliffhangers like this. It makes the reader excited and eagerly anticipate what will happen next.**

**Ron: Why do you use such big words?**

**MA: You talkin' to me or Hermione?**

**Ron: Both. You two are like twins.**

**Hermione: Well, thank you Ron.**

**MA: Anyways, you people reading this need to R.E.V.I.E.W. See I even spelled it out slowly for you. **

**Harry: Yeah, I heard her mumbling about putting Malfoy in this too. She said you have to review and tell her what you think. (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT) (MUST READ)**

**MA: Should I or shouldn't I?**


	4. Strange People

**I would like to say thank you to LoversPastForgotten, CEED, oOforeverobsessedOo, Spellcaster Hikaru, and Makurayami Ookami. Thank you especially to Spellcaster Hikaru, who gave me his/her opinion on my question. Unfortunately, I cannot progress much further without the votes of others. IMPORTANT: Should I put Malfoy in here or not! THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED.**

**Disclaimer: I own not the series of Yu Yu Hakusho. Nor do I own the book of Harry Potter. I do not. Not do I.**

**Chapter 4: Strange People**

Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly gathered up there things and prepared to leave with Dumbledore and some aurors. The aurors coming with them were: Mad-Eye Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Everyone quickly dressed in muggle clothing.

All of them crowded around the bicycle handlebar and reached forward to touch it. They felt the sensation of being pulled through air very suddenly, then hit the ground. A few people stumbled slightly from the impact, but no one fell.

They stood in the middle of a small clearing, just as Dumbledore said they would. It seemed like it must have been somewhere close to dawn right now, which was strange to some of them, considering it had been near sunset back in England.

Harry heard Dumbledore say something about the time being perfect for traveling without suspicion. None of this mattered; the only thing that did matter was that Voldemort was far behind. He would be far away from the source of those haunting dreams for a little while at least. And this Genkai person's temple was supposed to be impenetrable. It just seemed a little too perfect, though.

All suspicions were thrown out the window as Hermione called for him to hurry up. He quickly ran to catch up with the rest of the group.

Soon, they came to a large muggle city. Mr. Weasley was looking at everything in awe. He couldn't seem to stick to looking at one thing for more than a second. There was just too much to see.

There weren't many people walking in the streets this early, so there was no worry about losing each other in crowds. They hurried towards their destination. Harry only stopped once to look at a particularly sinister looking shop that other people walking down the streets didn't seem to notice. _It must be like the shops on Knockturn Alley. Only it's hidden like the Leaky Cauldron,_ Harry reasoned.

Just then, he saw someone walk out of the store. It was a man that could've been mistaken for a woman at first. He had piercing emerald eyes and bright, long crimson hair. It most certainly rivaled the Weasley's. He was tall and thin, a bit like Harry, wearing simple black jeans and a red t-shirt. The man quickly walked past with his shopping bag held tightly.

Dumbledore seemed to be heading in the same general direction as the red-haired man, whom Harry had decided must be evil since he was in the evil-looking shop.

They had reached the other side of the city and buildings were becoming scarcer as they walked on down a street. They were approaching a few mountains that were on the edge of the town.

The group saw the man approach a tall set of stairs that seemed to go on into eternity. He walked over to a tree at the side of the stairs and knocked on it twice, then snapped his fingers once. Before him flashed what appeared to be a barrier. The man then proceeded to walk through it and up the stairs. The barrier flashed once more after he went through, apparently being put back into its normal place.

To the surprise and confusion of everyone, Dumbledore began to ascend the stairs as well, though he did not perform the small ritual that the man before them had. As Harry approached the stairs, he looked at the long ascent up. There was no way anyone could possibly climb that without stopping for rest or breaking a sweat. And yet, there was the strange man from before, climbing the stairs at a normal pace, not even slowing down. Almost as if this was no challenge to him. Harry dreaded climbing those stairs, and he could tell the others did too.

About what seemed to be halfway up, everyone was breathing hard and demanding a break. Mrs. Weasley had conjured up a bottle of ice cold water that refilled itself automatically. Dumbledore had then decided to conjure up a bottle for everyone else as well.

They sat on the steps, taking deep gulps of the icy clear water. It was very refreshing. Ron even took the liberty of dumping the entirety of Niagara Falls onto himself. Which then created a very cold and wet Ron. With encouragement from Hermione, he began to continue the 'perilous' climb up the stairs. This, in turn, warmed him up a bit.

Everyone quickly caught up with Ron, who had the head start, and became determined to reach the top without stopping again, seeing as it was already noon now.

As they climbed the last step, they could hear yelling coming from ahead. On the stairs of an old temple was a small group. There was a short old lady, a short man with spiky black hair, an abnormally tall orange-haired man, a man with greased black hair, and the red-haired man from before.

Dumbledore quickly cast a non-verbal translating spell upon the group, since the other group was arguing in Japanese.

"What do you mean we're going to have guests! We can't have guests! Guests are bad! Very, very bad! All our secrets will be exposed! We'll be ridiculed as we walk down the streets! Besides, who the hell would you invite as guests?" the greasy-haired man asked the old pink-haired woman.

"I didn't invite them. The toddler brat did. If you're going to yell at someone, yell at him. Leave me out of this, dimwit. And your secrets will be fine; the pacifier-breath said they were very open-minded. They accepted a werewolf," the old woman stated.

"A werewolf! I have only met one werewolf before. He tried to bite me, but I beat him good. Oh yeah!" the greasy-haired boy said triumphantly, "Maybe psycho people are coming to stay with us! They might even hold a werewolf convention! Oh well, nothing we can't handle, right guys?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, whatever you say Urameshi," the orange-haired man said nervously. He began to fidget slightly.

"Hn. Whatever. Just keep them away from me and all will be…relatively…peaceful," the short, spiky-haired man said threateningly.

"So, fox-boy. What's in the bag?" the man with the greased hair asked, leaning over slightly as if to look into the bag.

"Oh, just some herbs. Nothing special," the red-haired man said, trying to divert attention away from himself.

"Yeah, sure it isn't. Open the bag Kurama," the old woman ordered. The red-haired man, now identified as Kurama, slowly and hesitantly opened the bag.

The old woman pulled a bottle out of the bag. It contained a frosty looking liquid that had silvery patterns swirling within it at their own accord. The old woman put that bottle back into the bag and pulled out another bottle. This one held a sapphire colored liquid. Inside the sapphire liquid were other shades of blue that swirled and clashed to form the appearance of ocean waves. The others could tell that there were other bottles in the bag, but saw it as unimportant to them. The old woman placed the second bottle in the bag as well and began to walk off.

"You will be welcoming to these guests, seeing as you may have to train them later," the old woman said as she approached the group of witches and wizards that had been watching the scene with interest.

"Train! I outta kill you, grandma!" the greasy haired man yelled angrily. The spiky haired man seemed to twitch slightly in anger and you definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of the glare he was giving her. It would've made anyone wet their pants in fear, well, except the old lady it seemed. They guessed that the others would be unaffected by it as well.

"Hm. I was only aware that 4 of you were coming. Please explain why the rest of you are here," the old woman commanded.

"We're here to make sure that these three will be ok. And to ask you a few questions ourselves," Moody said abruptly.

"You would have to tell me your opinion of 'ok' for me to confirm if they will be. As for the questions, I'm not about to be the center of a press conference. If you must ask questions, ask them," she said, pointing to the group at the stairs who were staring at the newcomers and then walking into the temple.

"HEY! You can't just pile your crud onto us!" the greasy-haired one yelled. "I wouldn't bet on that, dimwit!" the old woman yelled.

"Hey! You can't just leave us out here with these freaky people whose auras are _way_ off!" the orange-haired man said loudly. But his statement probably wasn't heard since the old woman had just slammed the sliding door shut.

The greasy-haired man sighed. "Tell us what you want to know and we'll answer. Just don't ask too many questions, my patience has been lower than normal today. I think it might be 'cause of the moon. Hey, Kurama, you feelin' off today too?"

Kurama looked up from the spot he had been staring at on the ground for the past few minutes. He sat on one of the stairs and ran one hand through his hair. "Of course, Yusuke. You know what today is."

"Yeah I know," Yusuke replied, sitting on the other side of the stairs. "Um, if you don't mind us asking, what might today be?" Mr. Weasley stuttered nervously.

"None of your damn business ningen. Now ask your questions and get lost," the spiky haired man hissed. "Hiei! Be nice to the ningens, they're stronger than normal ones and grandma will put you in her E.B.C. for a month if you don't at least be nice to them for the few minutes that they're here. Remember last time we got stuck in G.E.B.C.?"

All four of them shuddered. Apparently it had been a bad experience. Moody, the ever impatient one, wanted to get his questions answered, and now.

"Alright. I'll give you a question. Will these three be alright staying here?" Moody asked. Suddenly the others remembered that they had come to ask these people questions.

"Well, as grandma said, that depends on your idea of ok," Yusuke repeated. "Then tell us what they might be put through, what dangers they might encounter," Dumbledore said.

"Well, I would not suggest getting on grandma's bad side. Otherwise you'll get a certain amount of time in G.E.B.C., depending on what you did. Getting into G.E.B.C. is definitely not a good thing to do. You don't wanna get in there, trust me. Then there's the ancient demonic forest, once you get to a certain level in your training, she'll let you go in there without one of us accompanying you. Until she says you can, don't go in there or you might end up being lunch to Baldok or some other flesh-eating, blood-sucking, carnivorous monster. Then there's Hiei, nobody mess with Hiei. He'll kill you, he will, no hesitation at all. Then there's Kuwabara. We're still trying to figure out if his stupidity is contagious. Until then, no one go near him until our experiments are finished. Then there's Kurama. If you actually do manage to get on his bad side, out of the very few that have, you are most certainly dead, or wishing to be dead. Sometimes I think he's the most sadistic and cutthroat guy we got, even when you count Hiei and Genkai. Ummm, what else? Oh yeah! Beware the evil stairs of doom!" Yusuke yelled excitedly.

"Uh, is he alright in the head?" Ron asked the new boys. Hiei and Kurama shook their heads while the orange-haired man tried to ignore Yusuke poking him constantly. "URAMESHI!" the orange-haired man yelled, "STOP IT!" Yusuke stopped to punch the orange-haired man in the face while yelling, "SHUT IT KUWABARA!"

The others watched in fascination. Harry and the others were completely oblivious to the yelling coming from inside the temple, but that was probably because of the racket Yusuke was making.

"If you don't mind, we have some more questions," Tonks said. All four boys turned to look at her.

"Hey, wasn't your hair black a minute ago?" the orange-haired man, now dubbed Kuwabara, asked. Everyone turned to look at Tonks' now pink hair.

"Yeah, but I was tired of having black hair. Too normal," Tonks said, then turning her hair a bright shade of purple.

"Waah! It's freaky!" Kuwabara yelled. Suddenly, everything was very quiet and everyone could distinctly hear Genkai yelling, "SHUT UP DIMWIT! I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOUR SCREAMING UNTIL IT'S TIME FOR YOU ALL TO TRAIN! THEN I CAN SIT THERE AND LISTEN TO YOU SCREAM WHILE KURAMA OR HIEI OR MYSELF TORTURE YOU!"

Yusuke stood at the steps to the temple with wide, dotted eyes. "You guys aren't really gonna torture me, are ya?" Kurama and Hiei traded mischievous glances.

"I don't know Hiei. That sounds like fun," Kurama said slyly. "Yes Kurama, it does sound fun. I can't wait to try out some new torture techniques on him," Hiei said menacingly. Yusuke began to slowly back away, until Kurama and Hiei began chuckling.

"You tricked me!" Yusuke yelled angrily. "Ha…o-of course we did, Yusuke…ha-ha," Kurama managed to say as he bit his thumb to stop himself from laughing.

"Can we ask our questions now!" Moody yelled impatiently. Kuwabara woke up from unconsciousness and took the liberty of trying to answer since one of his teammates was having a fierce bout of chuckling, the other would most definitely refuse to answer any questions, and the other one was fuming and Kuwabara didn't want to risk the group's safety.

"Alright, I'll answer your questions," Kuwabara said grumpily, he didn't like being singled out.

"Good. Now exactly how long have you been employed by the Spirit World?" Mr. Weasley asked. "Uh-We don't work for the Spirit World any more. Haven't for 3 years now."

"Oh. I see. Well, how long have you known about the Wizarding World?" Mr. Weasley asked. "The what? I ain't never heard of no Wizarding World."

"Um-ok. Well, how old are you anyway?" Kuwabara held up his fingers, muttering as he marked off his fingers, "Well, I was 14 when I joined Urameshi in being Spirit Detective, 15 when we were fired, waited for 3 years for Urameshi to come back from Makai, so I'm 18 now."

"Alright, so you were fired when You-Know-Who came back to life." Kuwabara looked very confused, as did the other three. "Who is You-Know-Who?" they asked simultaneously. The looks on their faces were absolutely adorable. Each of them had an innocently confused look on their face.

"Voldemort," Harry stated tiredly, though he was surprised that someone said to be so powerful had never heard of Voldemort. Everyone--except the newcomers, Dumbledore, and Harry--flinched at the name. "Oh will you guys cut it out! There's no reason to fear his name!" Harry yelled, annoyed at their flinching.

The new four looked amused at the sight of the teenager yelling at the adults with very true logic. Normally it was the other way around.

Dumbledore glanced at the watch on his wrist. "We should be leaving now. Harry, Ron, Hermione, be good to your hosts and listen to them. I will be checking up on you every now and then. Take care," Dumbledore said waving to the three as he walked a ways away. The rest of the group that wasn't staying followed him, wishing good luck and bidding farewell to the three teenagers. They each touched the beat up computer mouse that Dumbledore was holding, and vanished from sight with a loud pop.

Dumbledore's last thought before departing was: _I wonder how they will be trained against a foe that their trainers no not of._

**MA: Review! Inspiration provided by the song _Simple and Clean--Remix_. I just love that song! It's so beautiful!**

**Kurama: Listening to it non-stop for two days can't be good for your health.**

**MA: (gets teary-eyed) But I love it**

**Kurama: No! Wait! Don't cry!**

**MA: (still teary-eyed) Don't you like the song, Kurama?**

**Kurama: If it'll make you stop crying, yes.**

**MA: Yay!**

**Yusuke: HEY! WHAT ABOUT ME! DO I GET UNTIED YET!**

**MA: No. You're not cooperating.**

**Yusuke: But you untied Kurama.**

**MA: That's because he was being good.**

**Kurama: (superior look)**

**MA: Now review people!**


	5. Examples and Testing

**Alright, first of all, thank you to Kimpatsu no Hoseki, strangeanimefreak, Incendire, SilverYouko300, oOforeverobsessedOo, Spellcaster Hikaru, sugar high water uma, LoversPastForgotten, and Makurayami Ookami. Thank you all. Now to explain my not updating for several months. I apologize profusely. If you want to know why I did not update for so long, the explanation is somewhere on my profile. I don't exactly remember where. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I'm trying my hardest. BY THE WAY, THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO VOTE: MALFOY OR NO MALFOY. I NEED TO KNOW BEFORE THE NEXT CHAPTER. THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or HP. Maybe someday I'll be able to buy them and continue them, but I certainly don't own them now! Otherwise YYH wouldn't have ended so abruptly. (sniff) (sob)**

**Chapter 5: Examples and Testing**

Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched in awe at the training Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara were being put through, but at the same time, had sudden questions they were just itching to ask.

Yusuke, who was balancing on a spike with his left index finger that was glowing blue, seemed to be having no trouble at all. He was watching the three as their eyes snapped in amazement between Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara, and himself. "You three look like you have some questions," Yusuke stated slowly.

Each head simultaneously snapped back to look at him. "Yeah," Ron said slowly. "Ask away. I'm only doing reflexive training," Yusuke said as he pointed his other index finger to the side. A blue blast flew from his finger and hit a clay disc that had been thrown at him. Strange thing was, he was still watching them.

"Bloody hell! How did you do that?" Ron yelled. Yusuke shrugged his shoulders—or, gave the impression of him shrugging his shoulders, seeing as he was upside-down and his head was right-side-up and facing them.

"It's my Spirit Gun. I channel my spirit energy through my finger to create a blast that's something like a bullet. You could probably do something like this too, only yours would be different from mine because your spirit energy takes form differently for each person. It all depends on what you're like," he answered nonchalantly.

"Cool," Harry said, not really understanding and just saying something to be saying something, "What was with you earlier, anyways?" Yusuke looked to be in deep thought for a moment before replying, "Well, I had just eaten a bunch of Keiko's sugar cookies, so I was hyper, and tonight's the crescent moon, so me and Kurama are a bit out of it. By the way, our tempers and patience are pretty short-cut on days of the crescent and full moon. If you want an explanation on that, I suggest you ask Genkai."

The trio thought about this for a moment before accepting his answer. "How can you do wandless magic?" Hermione asked imperatively, "My books say that no wizard is capable of doing magic without a wand. It's only in fairytales." Yusuke looked at her for a minute.

"Magic? I'm not doing magic. I'm limited to certain things ya know. I mean, I can't turn chickens into TVs, as much as I wish I could. S-Class should be able to do that. I'll have to find something on being able to do that. Then I could get free cable," Yusuke said, the last part to himself.

The trio stared at him, dumbfounded. "Well, then what is it that you're doing, if it's not magic?" Ron demanded.

"I really don't know that one. You should ask the old hag, she knows that stuff. After all, she's probably been around almost as long as Kurama. Any more questions?" Yusuke said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean, almost as long as Kurama? Genkai looks much older than him," Harry inquired, confused. Yusuke suddenly looked very nervous. _Secret. Secret. Secret, _his mind repeated.

"Eh, heh heh. Don't worry about that. We'll explain later," Yusuke said with a nervous laugh. He shot another clay disc that flew at him.

"Um, okay. Hey, we aren't going to be put through the training you're doing now, are we?" Harry asked, slightly fearful of having to do so much work. Yusuke took a quick look at his comrades before turning back to the trio.

"Probably not. This is daily exercise for us, if you were watching our real training; you wouldn't want to be here at all. We're A and S-Class, you're only C-Class. Your training won't be nearly as hard as ours. To be honest, I was kinda surprised that you were actually in the Middle C-Class. That old guy that was with you, the one with the silver beard, he was only Middle B-Class. You're training will be hard to you, considering your level, but it'll be well worth the struggle. Trust me. I know."

"Oh. Ok. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be reassuring, but ok," Harry said timidly. "Don't worry. The hag won't kill you. Just wear you out." Yusuke nodded his head wisely.

"Baka toushin, you're not scaring the ningen children, are you?" a voice said from behind him. "No Hiei. I'm reassuring them that granny won't kill them," Yusuke replied with a hint of annoyance.

"You shouldn't lie to them Yusuke, it makes them unprepared for what is ahead. I remember you saying that you would rather die, than go to the hell known as G.E.B.C. or even training with Genkai for a month. I also remember you telling me to throw you off of the top of the highest tower in Gandara if you even considered it," Kurama added in a silky voice from behind Yusuke.

"Yes, and I'm holding you to that," Yusuke said seriously, "I want you to tie me up in some of those unbreakable talismans of yours and throw me off."

Kurama chuckled and Hiei snickered, while Kuwabara guffawed as he joined into the conversation. "I'm serious you guys! Throw me off if I consider it! Go to a priest or something and get them to tie me up in those talismans, and then you throw me off of that damn tower! Not even Yomi or Mukuro or anyone else could survive a fall like that when they're tied up or not prepared to land!" Yusuke yelled then he muttered, "Which makes me wonder why he built something so tall in the first place."

The trio raised their eyebrows at the four before them. This was very strange. "So, uh, what now?" Ron asked uncertainly. "Uhhhhhhhhh……….Oh, right! We need to test you guys!" Kuwabara yelled enthusiastically. He marched through the training room and out into the hallway, apparently leading them somewhere.

"Test us?" Hermione asked questioningly as they followed Kuwabara's march down the maze of halls. "Yeah," Yusuke answered simply, "You just got to play a few games that measure your spirit energy and we can see where we need to start in your training."

"Games?" Ron wondered aloud, but it went unheard. The trio followed the tantei down a maze of halls, until they reached a large set of sliding doors. As Yusuke slid the doors aside, Harry saw what must have been an entire arcade.

The tantei led them inside, and Kurama closed the doors behind them. "Welcome to grandma's personal arcade. Now I'd like to point out that only 3 of these games are going to test you, the rest are just for fun," Yusuke said, then he pointed to one game, "That is the nishiogi punching game, grandma had it specially designed to test the spiritual power behind your punch. Judging by how you look, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't get very high of a score on this one, but I'm not going to judge you just by how ya look. 'Cause if you're anything like Kurama, then you just really don't look it."

Yusuke pointed to another machine in one of the corners. "That," he said, "is Janken. Known to you as the paper-rock-scissors game. That game is supposed to tell your spirit sense, or intuition. I hate that game with a passion. So, next game."

Yusuke walked to the other side of the room, moving between random games. "Lastly, is karaoke. This one is supposed to measure your life energy, and test your ability to learn and adapt to different situations." Yusuke snickered slightly as he remembered this being the finishing match between the contest he and Kuwabara had during Genkai's tournament. Kuwabara grumbled as he remembered the exact same thing.

"Hn. Let's just get this over with," Hiei said abruptly. The small black man walked over to the punching game. "We'll start with this. Kurama, do you have the board?" Kurama held up a clipboard and pen. "Alright, who's first?" He looked around expectantly.

Harry gulped and stepped forward. Hiei smirked. "Hn. Let's see what you can do." Yusuke threw a boxing glove to Harry, which he put on. "You just gotta hit that round, red circle-thing as hard as you can," Yusuke said calmly. Harry gulped and nervously walked up to the machine.

He drew his hand back and concentrated on the red circle. He thrust his hand forward with as much force as he could muster, then he blinked and looked up at the score it showed. There was a loud ringing sound as it flickered onto the screen.

"87. Not too bad," Yusuke remarked thoughtfully. Harry smiled and walked back over to his friends. Kurama copied the score onto the clipboard. Ron walked up next.

He did the same as Harry did, then looked up to see his score. "85. Hn. Not bad for ningens," Hiei commented with raised eyebrows. Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara turned to look at Hiei with wide eyes. "Shorty someone….oh my god, I think the world is ending," Kuwabara said quietly.

Hiei glared at them all. They quickly looked away and started whistling. Kurama copied down the score and motioned for Hermione to go next. She quickly walked up and hit the circle.

"84. Awesome. The girl hits as hard as the guys," Yusuke said goofily. He gave Hermione a high-five, then started walking to the Janken machine.

"Okay, over here, on the top it shows the hand signs for paper, rock, and scissors. The bottom row shows the same thing. You hit the bottom row to try to beat the top row. The rules are still the same here: paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, and scissors beats paper. Any questions?" Kuwabara announced.

Harry walked up to be first. He randomly hit the buttons, hearing the blaring and ringing when he got it wrong and right. Though, he heard the blaring more often. "Hm. 7 out of 15. Better than Urameshi, but still not that great," Kuwabara mumbled. "I mean, he did only get 2," he added smugly. Yusuke seethed behind him.

Ron walked up next. He, too, seemed to be pressing random buttons. But it was obvious that he wasn't when you looked at his score. "9 out of 15!" he exclaimed, astounded that he had beat Harry. "Not too bad," Kuwabara praised. Kurama recorded the scores again.

Hermione walked up nervously. She found it ridiculous that they were being tested with rock-paper-scissors; she also thought it was weird that they called it paper-rock-scissors. It sounded somewhat unnatural to her. She had never studied anything like this in her books, and she thought it would be embarrassing if Ron beat her.

She began to play the game. She decided to rely on what her mother had called 'women's intuition'. Whatever. It helped. "12 out of 15. Pretty darn good, if I do say so myself," Yusuke said. Kurama smiled slightly and copied down the score.

"Ok! Onwards to karaoke!" Yusuke said gallantly. This was the part that worried the trio. They really didn't want to sing.

**MA: Alright, end of the chapter. Now tell me what you think of it by pressing that nice little review button down at the bottom.**

**Kurama: Why am I tied up again?**

**MA: Because you look cute when you're tied up.**

**Kurama: (confused) Really?**

**MA: Yes, now hush.**

**Kurama: ...Why?**

**MA: Why what?**

**Kurama: Why do I look cute when I'm tied up?**

**MA: ...I don't know. Maybe because it looks dramatic. I'm not sure. You just do.**

**Yusuke: What about me?**

**MA: In my opinion, you look funny and act funny when you're tied up. In your fangirls opinion, you look hot.**

**Yusuke: Well, my fangirls scare me, though I like their opinion more.**

**Kurama: My fangirls scare me, too. MA, you're sure they can't get us here?**

**MA: Positive. Fact is, they don't know where I am. So it's completely safe. Also because I don't know anyone who is a Yusuke fangirl. I know a lot of Hiei ones though. You know what, to add to the security against Yusuke fangirls, I have decided to invite Keiko to a sleep over.**

**Yusuke: WHAT!**

**MA: Don't worry. I won't tell her any of the secrets I've gotten out of you. (mumbles 'unless it will improve your relationship')**

**Yusuke: What was that?**

**MA: Nothing!**

**Kurama: What about me?**

**MA: I think I can handle Kurama fangirls. And those blasted Mary-Sues. I hate them. So flawless. They're always stronger, and there are always demons after them. I hope I haven't made any Mary-Sues in my other stories (unless it was on purpose).**

**Kurama: Okay.**

**MA: Well, REVIEW!**

**MA: And one more thing, I MAY BE MOVING THIS STORY TO THE YU YU HAKUSHO SECTION. I THINK IT MAY GET MORE REVIEWERS THERE.**


	6. Sing Loud and Proud

**Hi guys! I'm not dead. I swear. I'll be honest with you guys though, I've had this chapter written out for about a month or so. I just haven't been able to get on the computer much.**

**Anyways, thanks to all my reviewers and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own nada. But someday, all you people will be reading something I wrote! Or so I hope. But it is most likely that I will never own YYH.**

**Chapter 6: Sing Loud and Proud**

Singing had to have been the worst, and most certainly most embarrassing part. Hermione ended up singing White Flag by Dido. Harry had sung Hero by Nickelback. And Ron sang I Love This Bar by Toby Keith. Hermione like her song, Harry didn't mind his so much, but Ron did not like singing or the song he had to sing.

But Kurama had made a fair point for the three of them. Which had been, "These are the only songs we have in English, but if you'd rather attempt to sing in Japanese it can be arranged." And they liked sticking to a language they knew and were fairly comfortable with.

Kurama scribbled down the scores as they were told to him. "48 for Ron, 49 for Harry, and 72 for Hermione. Not bad, not-" Kurama stopped abruptly, turning his head to look in a certain direction. His face split into a mischievous smirk and he handed Kuwabara the clipboard, then he took off out another door that led outside. Everyone else followed after him.

A yell was heard in the distance as Kurama ran into the forest. The other six did their best to follow Kurama as he twisted through the dense and suddenly dark forest, which was weird considering it was midday. When the six managed to catch up, they found Kurama standing in front of a mass of enormous vines that were slowly wrapping themselves around a pale teenage boy with blonde hair.

Kurama chuckled darkly and walked towards the boy. The vines wrapped fondly around Kurama, but allowed him to move freely. The whole thing was disconcerting, especially when Kurama had seemed so nice, though Harry had been suspicious of him since the 'evil store'. The plants definitely creeped the trio out, but the others—Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara—seemed used to this occurrence.

Kurama approached the boy with an eerie grace, and seemed to carefully regard the person before him, who was ensnared in his trap. The boy had a strange aura, much like the trio that had just recently arrived. He bent down to a large, five-petaled, orange and yellow flower that stood off to the side of the path in front of the mass of vines. It had some strange purple bulb-like thing in the middle of the flower, and it was shining a soft purple light.

"Good job reporting this intruder to me. I'll take care of the rest," Kurama said softly to the flower. He tossed something toward the sphere in the middle of the petals and the sphere became a large set of gnashing teeth that quickly ate whatever it was, before becoming innocent-looking once more.

The trio and the boy in the vines gulped audibly and paled. The flower was like nothing they had seen before. They stepped forward cautiously, trying to get a good look at the boy in the vines without treading on some possibly-dangerous piece of foliage. Now they understood why Yusuke had said not to go into the forest without someone else until Genkai thought they were ready.

"What the bloody hell is that thing?" Ron asked fearfully. Kurama looked back at him for a moment before responding.

"The plant is called a Goeiwana. While it isn't one of my lethal plants, it is quite useful for guarding places or trapping an unsuspecting enemy. Normally it is in its nature to crush its victim on contact, but I have trained the ones around here to merely capture its victim and render it immobile. That is, unless it is just one of the petty creatures that reside in these woods."

Harry shivered at the words and the cold manner in which the redhead had spoken them. And if this wasn't one of his lethal plants, he didn't think he wanted to see one that Kurama actually considered lethal. Then his curiosity of who the boy in the trap was overcame him again. He edged his way through the tangle of vines to get a closer look, and was surprised at who he did see.

"Malfoy," Harry muttered hatefully, glaring the blonde in the vines. "Why are you here?" he asked in a much louder voice.

Kurama turned to Harry. "You know him?" the red-haired kitsune asked, pointing at Malfoy. Harry nodded.

"We're enemies. He was supposed to kill Dumbledore, but he chickened out at the last second and Snape had to kill Dumbledore. He's one of Voldemort's Death Eaters." Kurama looked thoughtful for a moment.

"If he hesitated to kill, he can't be all bad." Harry gawked at the redhead. "B-but he's a Death Eater! He's on Voldemort's side!" Hermione screeched.

Malfoy glared at everyone. They were talking as if he wasn't there, and he did not like it. He cleared his throat to remind everyone that he was still there. Yusuke looked over at him.

"Got a problem, blondie?" he said mockingly. Malfoy glared at him too. "Ooh, you're so scary, mister death muncher! Please don't hurt me!" Yusuke said in a high-pitched, sarcastic voice.

Hiei chuckled darkly at the indignant look on the boy's face. "Why don't we take him up to Genkai's for now? She can help decide what to do with him," Kuwabara said from behind Yusuke.

Kurama and Yusuke nodded in agreement, Hiei 'hn'd'. "You aren't taking me anywhere, you ugly muggle!" Malfoy said, while struggling to get out of the plant.

Kurama looked over at the blonde with a smirk. "Oh really? So you'd rather be plant food. Kami knows my plants could use a good meal, though you don't look all that satisfying." Malfoy gulped audibly, and mumbled a 'Nevermind' under his breath. The trio briefly wondered how Kurama could think of someone as a meal.

Hiei walked over to him and hit him over the head, knocking him unconscious. The vines let Malfoy go, and Hiei tossed him over to Kuwabara to carry. No one wanted him to remember the way there if he was really a spy. Then they headed back to the temple.

* * *

Kuwabara set him in the room that Genkai directed them too. Hiei made sure to get any sort of weapon away from him. They'd taken his wand, a few hidden knives, some of the Weasley twins' Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, and the Hand of Glory. 

Kurama had tied him to a chair with some vines, and they made sure to lock the room behind them as they left. Once they had reached the main room, Genkai turned to face the three wizards.

"Tell us everything you know about that kid," she barked demandingly in her aged voice. Despite the fact that she was probably only 3 or 4 feet tall, the trio found her to be very intimidating.

"Well, he's an evil git," Ron supplied nervously. Genkai looked up at him with a look on her face that clearly said 'You're a hopeless idiot. Is that all you can say?'.

"Back at the forest, Harry said that he was supposed to be the one to kill Dumbledore-san, but was too afraid to really kill," Kurama supplied from beside the door. Genkai turned her sharp gaze to Harry, "What else?" she asked.

Harry was surprised that she didn't ask how he knew that, or that she wasn't shocked that Malfoy was actually supposed to kill Dumbledore. "Well," he started, "he likes to brag a lot and enjoys bulling people weaker than him or smaller than him. He doesn't like to do things that don't benefit himself and he always has some sort of sleazy look on his face." Harry could have gone on, but he had the feeling that Genkai got the gist of what he was saying.

"So he's pretty much a threat in every way. If he hesitated to kill, then there are really only two forces that could have caused that: Some form of good conscience or the fact that it was going to be a first kill. Simply because everyone is nervous about their first kill, unless they were thoroughly enraged, but even then, they would feel some sort of distress afterwards. Guilt is something everyone feels, until they're so neck-deep in repression, hatred, anger, and insanity that their mind and soul are no longer capable of processing guilt. But if the negativity is taken away—if only for a moment—then the guilt can come back, for it is a fast-acting emotion. Remember that."

Kurama turned away from the group and left, leaving the trio to wonder at his abrupt exit. Ron was about to ask about it, but stopped when Genkai sighed sadly and turned to the others.

"I want you to go through the Makai and take that brat in there back to England, where he belongs. I don't want to waste time on someone who probably can't provide us with any information. But keep some of his weapons; they may be of use to us. Hiei, erase his memories of what he encountered here, and make sure you do it thoroughly. I've heard that this Voldemort character has powerful magic; we don't want to take any chances. Yusuke, you can take him back to England."

"What!?! No way! Why me?" Yusuke yelled indignantly. "I don't wanna have to deal with that ferret-faced runt! And won't the air in Makai kill him anyway?" The trio quickly backed away and moved their hands to cover their ears from how loud the yelling was.

"Too bad, dimwit!" Genkai yelled back tauntingly. "You'll listen to me whether you want to or not! I chose you because the demons respect you just enough to stay out of your way! And you can handle any that don't! Besides, you're starting to get out of shape."

"No I'm not! Fine! I'll take the stupid runt, but I won't like it!" Yusuke conceded, glaring at his mentor as hard as he could.

"I never said you had to like it, I just said you had to do it," the pink-haired woman corrected. Yusuke just growled in response.

"So where am I supposed to drop him off? Anywhere?"

Genkai sighed and led Yusuke away, while Hiei went back into the room Malfoy was being held in. Kuwabara and the trio stood confused and abandoned in the hallway. All was quiet for a few moments (and a tumbleweed rolled by in the silence).

"So……now what?" Harry asked, facing Kuwabara. Kuwabara shrugged in reply.

"Aren't you concerned about Kurama?" Hermione asked accusingly, pointing down the hall in the direction the redhead had gone.

"Of course!" Kuwabara shouted back indignantly. "But it's pointless to try to understand _his_ mind. And one of our 'unspoken rules' as friends is that we don't pry where we're not wanted. Besides, Kurama can handle it. He'll be fine later."

The trio glanced uncertainly at each other, but didn't question any further. Something in Kuwabara's tone warned them not to pursue the subject, so they did just that.

* * *

The next morning found the trio in the dining room of sorts, eating a breakfast provided to them by a cheery redhead, who was, at the moment, happily eating a blueberry muffin. His mood seemed completely different yesterday and he certainly didn't _seem_ too mental, but they felt as though they were somehow treading on thin ice just being in the same room as him. Though that _could_ be due to the fact that they were still a little freaked out from yesterday, that and the redhead appeared utterly oblivious to their discomfort. 

The door to the room suddenly slammed open as it was slid back rather forcefully, causing Harry, Ron, and Hermione to jump simultaneously. Yusuke—who had been the one to slam the door—walked in sleepily, barely stifling a yawn and subconsciously reaching for the muffin Kurama held up.

He plopped down onto a mat next to Kurama and began eating his own muffin just as the door banged open again, causing the trio to jump…again. Kuwabara walked in this time, still half-asleep, and received a muffin from Kurama as well. The silence continued on until they'd had their fill, Yusuke and Kuwabara had fully awoken, and Hiei had appeared seemingly out of thin air.

"Genkai says we need to start training them today. Of course, that'll have to be done after we get a full assessment of their abilities. I know little about this magic of theirs, and I know these two numbskulls don't know anything. What about you, Kurama?" Hiei inquired grumpily.

"Well I have heard a few tales…and run across a few sorcerers before. Though I never really had much of chance to talk to them or assess their abilities," the redhead replied slyly. "As you probably know, there is little use for sorcery in the Makai. They tend to be arrogant little creatures too. Quite annoying really."

"Once again, Kurama knows all. All hail the master of knowledge and wisdom," Yusuke announced drolly, mocking a bow. Kuwabara soon joined him, and together they mock-bowed to Kurama, who sarcastically went along with and pretended to enjoy the praise.

"What? You're not going to bow to me, too, Hiei?" Kurama inquired innocently.

"Hell no! I bow to no one!" Hiei snarled in his usual unpleasant manner.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Genkai's voice asked unenthusiastically as she slid the door closed.

Everyone besides Hiei and Kurama jumped at the sound of her voice, followed by Yusuke's indignant yelling.

"Shut up, Dimwit, and give me a muffin," Genkai ordered coolly, resulting in Yusuke grudgingly handing her one of the doughy, blueberry-filled pieces of goodness.

"Fox, you may choose between your experimenting and assessing these three today. Hiei, you have no choice, so don't try to weasel your way out."

Hiei only growled and glared at her in response.

"I'd like to continue my experimenting, if you don't mind, but I would appreciate it if you would record the session for me," Kurama answered hesitantly.

Genkai gave a sly grin that normally Kurama could only pull off and merely said, "I was planning on it."

Yes. The trio had quickly learned that mornings with the Reikai Tantei were weird, odd, and everything else under that category, and not to be questioned.

**MA: Yeah, I know. The muffin bit was totally random, but I'm completely obsessed with them. You'll find more muffins in my other stories as well.**

**So. These are the questions you should be asking yourself right now:**

**1. What the hell?**

**2. What's Kurama's little 'experiment'?**

**and 3. Why the hell am I reading this?**

**Though seriously, if you're thinking number 3, it means I've failed in my duties as an author.**

**...even though I've probably failed most of those duties already...**

**Yusuke: Yep.**

**MA: (glare) What was that?**

**Yusuke: meep! Nothing!**

**MA: I thought so. R&R please!**


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